As it is commonly known thin wound dressings are difficult to apply to wounds, especially in curved areas, without wrinkling or sticking to themselves or to the users fingers. It is desirable to apply all kinds of dressings without touching the adhesive layer in order to avoid reducing the adhesiveness. Because of the risk of introducing bacterial to the wound it is desirable to apply a dressing to a patient's skin without touching the surface of the dressing that is to come into contact with the skin. The prior art discloses several methods for facilitating handling of a wound dressing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,753,232 discloses a "handle" portion along one edge of the dressing, where the handle is formed from a tearable material or the dressing may have a perforation line along the edge. After the dressing is applied, the handle may be removed by tearing, or it may carry an adhesive coating so that it may be adhered to the skin of the patient. In the case where the handle is torn off, it will leave burrs of adhesive material along the tearing line. These burrs of adhesive material will adhere to e.g. the fingers of the person who applies the dressing, garments or anything which comes into contact with the edges resulting in loosening of the dressing. If the handle carries an adhesive and is adhered to the skin of the patient it renders the dressing large and clumsy when applied.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,621 and European Patent Application No. 0 081 987 A1 disclose a wound dressing which comprises a flexible adhesive coated sheet having a pair of adhesive-free "handle" portions, formed of the same material as the flexible sheet, adjacent to perforation lines on opposed side edges of the sheet. These "handle" portions can be detached from the sheet, after application of the dressing, by separating along the perforation lines. The removal of the handles needs a force which can result in the lifting of the edges of the dressing. Further this dressing can not be used for forming an anatomical dressing.
WO patent publication No. 94/26514 discloses a self-adhesive laminate which can be used as a conventional square shaped wound dressing in which a thin transparent film has a layer of skin adhesive on one side, shielded before use by a cover sheet. The cover sheet and the backing sheet are linked by a hinge. To apply the dressing, the cover sheet is peeled off and left hanging by the hinge and the film is adhered to the patient while holding a tab opposite the hinge. After application the tab is removed from the film by tearing along perforations parallel to one of the four edges. This dressing is held stable and is protected against stretching during application, therefore it cannot be used for forming an anatomical dressing. Further the edge which has been torn off shows a relatively long line of exposed adhesive and will have the disadvantage to stick to everything, resulting in peeling off of the dressing.
EP patent application No. 0638301 discloses a medical dressing with semipeperipheral delivery system and methods therefor. The dressing system disclosed herein comprises a backing layer, an adhesive material overlying the backing layer and a release liner overlying the adhesive, wherein said medical system further comprises a final dressing portion and a semiperipheral support portion surrounding said dressing portion, said support portion being partially defined by at least one unsupported edge, said one or more edges extending from a first end to a second end of said semiperipheral support portion. The separation line where the support portion is removed after application of the dressing is inconveniently long and will tend to stick to everything.
Finally, EP patent application No. 0507459 discloses a combined adhesive, strip and transparent dressing delivery system. This system offers an application procedure where touching of the adhesive surface of the adhesive strip is very difficult to avoid. This gives a serious drawback because of the risk of contamination. A further problem associated with the state of the art dressings described above is that they are complicated to manufacture and some of them leave a disadvantageous edge with a non appellant appearance along the tearing or perforation line.